12th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
Today’s fast moving, ever-changing digital landscape has altered many things about how we work, live and do business. But some constants remain – entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity are still king. This year’s South By Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival exemplified just that – and showed that Britain is certainly towards the front of the pack! From […]
2nd February 2012 USA
This week Washington welcomed the best and brightest in reality and unscripted television industry to the (sold-out) 14th Annual RealScreen Summit. Home to non-fiction powerhouses like Discovery Communications, The National Geographic Channel and PBS, the event here brought together the top creative talent who develop the shows we love (or love to hate), like Wife […]
26th January 2012
Back in July 2010 I wrote a blog called How to stop censorship in Ukraine. Based on a discussion with journalists, I noted both areas for concern and some areas for optimism; and observed that freedom of the media would be critical for Ukraine’s relationship with the EU because the Copenhagen criteria, which set out […]
2nd December 2011
I was in Sydney this week with the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, who are conducting a study on gambling. The group consisted of three Conservatives, one Lib Dem and one Labour MP, and was led by committee chair John Whittingdale MP, who I used to work with 25 years ago […]
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21st October 2011
It sounds like something from science fiction. But in fact it is with us as we live and breathe. And next month, 1 and 2 November, the Foreign Office will host a conference on cyberspace in London – the opportunities for social good, increased democratic engagement and prosperity it represents, along with its dark side, […]
16th June 2011 Bucharest, Romania
As economic recovery and competitiveness are at the heart of the European agenda, the British Embassy plans to run a media training programme on this heavyweight issue in the autumn. The idea is to bring a senior British business journalist to Romania to share from his/her experience in reporting and commenting about the challenges and […]
Read more on Meet a Brit – media training coming soon | Reply
3rd June 2011
Earlier this week we held a very well-attended, high profile press conference at the Embassy at which the Médiaszolgáltatás-támogató és Vagyonkezelő Alap (MTVA) – the official Hungarian media sports TV/radio organisation spoke about the London 2012 Olympics and all the international sporting events leading up to the Games in which Hungary is involved. Agnes Cserhati […]
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4th May 2011
Today is the annual celebration of World Press Freedom Day. On this day participants commemorate the fundamental principles of media freedom; highlight long-standing and emerging threats to that freedom; and pay tribute to journalists and activists who have risked their safety to advance public access to news and information. The main theme this year is […]
15th April 2011 New York, USA
I wanted to let you know that I am considering changing my title here at the consulate. Instead of Deputy Consul-General, I hope to soon be known as the “Mayor”. No I am not declaring my candidacy against the honourable Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York. I am joining the wave of […]
31st March 2011
I’ve been following with interest the debate around the recent closure of a Ukrainian newspaper, the Gazeta po-Kievski. It’s an important issue. The newspaper, which has existed for many years, was closed down on 11 March. One explanation of the closure is that it had been losing money and was uneconomic. Proponents of free speech, […]